Creativity Heals

This was first published in my Creative Spirit Newsletter in late November 2017.

Last year this time, just after the election, I opened my studio for a day of healing through creativity. I collaborated with other expressive artists to create a space for people--heart-broken, scared and disillusioned people to heal.

Last month I opened my studio again, free of charge, to my community. Because creativity heals and we were in need of much healing.

As the fires ripped through our neighborhoods, burned up our hillsides, and decimated our beautiful communities, our cities became famous for fire. And again I saw heart-broken people in the studio.

The truth is that broken hearts often find their way into Unfold Studio. The work we do there is the work of the heart. The language of the soul. Color and image and word combined in a recipe that expresses every emotion, and even the emotions we feel but have no words for.

I was moved by the outpouring and expression and I wanted to share it with everyone. So I created the video you see above. I included images of many of the art journal pages created in the studio during and shortly after the fires. I asked my friends Sheridan Gold and Suzanne Shanbaum to create an original piece of music with handpan and guitar for it (and they did!). And I gathered photos from local photographers as well as others. I hope you are moved by it. To me, it's haunting and beautiful and a testament to the power of creativity as a force for transformation.

And by the way, I collected almost $2000 in donations for undocumented immigrant fire victims. If you'd like to donate to that cause, click here. Thank you!